Question regarding my coming stay and status challenge

I am going to spend two nights at Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside. To use my free night certificate, I booked my stay on two separate reservations: the first night will be paid and the second night will be rewarded with the certificate. In the meantime, I am having my platinum challenge undergoing.

So, my question is, will this stay be considered as a paid stay?

Thank you for your response.

Edit, to simplify my question, for two consecutive nights at the same hotel( first night be paid, and second night be rewarded), will this be considered as a paid stay or a redeemed stay?

The paid stay will be considered a paid stay, but the redeemed won't be considered a paid stay but it will count towards the number of nights stayed toward Silver/Gold/Platinum status. The redeemed stay also doesn't count towards the current MegaBonus but the paid stay does. As far as whether they meet the Platinum challenge, you need to read the T&Cs of the Challenge you were given to see what counts/doesn't count towards meeting the Challenge. Each challenge may be tailored differently to each member, so a straightforward answer isn't always possible.

You may want to call back to Customer Support and ask them about what counts towards the Challenge if they didn't spell it out for you.

If you pay for one of the two nights, the stay will count as a paid stay. I've done this several times on past MegaBonuses based on stays (paid for one night of a multi-night stay). It will count toward your challenge.

That's true. A single night using "cash + points" does not count, but if one night is paid and the other is points (or a certificate) it will count as a paid stay even if these two nights are part of the same reservation. It's been a few years since I've done this, but unless something has changed, as long as at least one night of a stay is paid, the stay will be credited as a paid stay.

Interesting....so the old Marriott plan of cash plus points....where you could book one or more nights as cash or points..in the same reservation treated the cash night as a regular night? That’s good to know for mega bonus period bookings.